Richmond man's falling death ruled accidental

MARTINEZ -- The death of a Richmond man who fell from an apartment window last year following an altercation was an accident, a jury ruled Monday during a coroner's inquest.

Link Pernard Muldrow, 47, died on Oct. 21 after barricading himself inside an apartment at the Nevin Plaza housing project, according to Richmond police.

A 10-member jury heard testimony from police officers and detectives at Monday's hearing, which is standard protocol for officer-involved or in-custody deaths. Juries do not assign criminal or civil liability but determine the manner of death, according to four definitions set forth by the state.

Police said Muldrow, who was homeless, would sometimes stay at a female friend's apartment but that day brought another woman to the home, prompting a fight.

Neither woman was a suspect because the apartment door was barricaded when officers arrived, according to police. Once inside the sixth-story apartment, officers found no one there, only an open window with the screen popped out. They saw Muldrow laying on a fourth-story ledge below.

He was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. A coroner ruled that Muldrow died of blunt-force trauma. Alcohol and methamphetamine were also found in his system, although none in lethal amounts.

Muldrow's family is disputing the outcome, saying the father of three was afraid of heights and would never take his own life.

"That is so out of character for him," Eddie Muldrow, the victim's brother, said Monday after the inquest concluded.

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Instead the family believes Muldrow was targeted by someone who learned that he was carrying thousands of dollars in his wallet, money he planned to spend taking his daughter shopping the following day.

His brother said that Muldrow did outreach to the homeless in Richmond, often soliciting donations of clothing, food and toiletries for them.

"He was a good guy and a good dad; he just got mixed up with some bad things," Eddie Muldrow said.